Star Light, Star Bright
by callhervera
Summary: While off-world SG-1 find a young woman who's a long way from home... Buffy-centric
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own neither buffy nor stargate. They were both created by their respective peeps who are far above me in so many ways! Also, I stole a line from Monty Python and the holy grail...

Setting: Post-chosen Buffy-wise, and probably in season5 of stargate, altho at the moment the stargate season doesn't matter too much. We'll see how that goes...

Oh, and this chapter is very much a Stargate chapter, but don't worry - our buffster will appear way more soon. Please read and review!

Chapter One

SG-1 had only been on P3X-738 for three minutes before they were captured. Jack O'Neill knew that they should be more than used to this occurring by now. When the MALP had been sent through the images they had received back were the usual – trees, grass, trees and more trees. It was a seemingly safe environment. However, when they had stepped through the gate they had immediately been fired upon by a contingent of Jaffa. Jack had to admit that while he loved Teal'c, and was all for Jaffa freedom, sometimes these guys were pains in the ass! It didn't take long for them to realize that they were supremely out numbered. After laying down their weapons, SG-1 was led away, presumably to meet the reigning Goa'uld 'God'.

Walking through the forest, they came upon a clearing where a swamp could be seen. By this swamp was a temple evidently built by whatever materials could be scavenged from the area.

"One day lad, all this'll be yours…" Jack quipped.

"Perhaps you could save your witticisms until we have the upper hand?" requested Daniel.

After rolling his eyes at Daniel, he turned to Teal'c. "So Teal'c, recognized these guys?" indicating towards their captors.

"I do not." answered Teal'c.

The Jaffa leading them turned towards Jack. He hit him behind the knees with his staff weapon. "Ha'shak kree!"

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Ah sir," cut in Carter "I think it might have been a hint to not – " before Carter could finish, she too was hit behind the knees with the staff.

"…talk." she concluded.

"Thanks for the demonstration, Carter," Jack said smugly as he helped her to her feet as best as he could with his hand tied behind his back.

The group continued on in silence as they were led through the path in the swamp towards the makeshift temple. As they approached, Jack could make out details of the temple. It was mostly made out of a combination of wood, tree bark and mud brick and was admittedly quite dismal in comparison to the usual Goa'uld abode. Outside what was presumably the main entrance there stood two wooden statues of crocodiles. Jack looked in Daniel's direction, where he noted recognition in the archaeologist's eyes. With a slight nod of his head, Daniel indicated he would share his new knowledge as soon as he could.

They entered the temple, arriving at the foot of an unoccupied throne.

"Ke'i!" instructed the Jaffa.

"He wants us to kneel," translated Daniel, complying as he did so. The other three knelt also, Teal'c somewhat reluctantly. Once down they moved into a semi-circle.

"So, who are we expecting?" Jack queried.

When they all turned to Daniel expectantly, he obliged. "Judging from the statues at the outside, and a cartouche I noted above the entrance we appear to be in the territory of Sobek, the ancient Egyptian crocodile deity."

Jack turned to Teal'c. "What do you know about him, T?"

"That he has largely been presumed dead by the System Lords. The Goa'ulds Bastet and Kali supposedly turned on him while forming an alliance. This occurred many a generation ago. His head is still rumoured to adorn Bastet's wall."

As Teal'c finished speaking the Goa'uld himself entered the room.

"Well, as dead guys go, he seems more lively than most…" Jack whispered.

"Silence!" commanded Sobek. "Who are you?"

Jack got up from his knees and took the floor. "I'm sorry, did you want us to be silent or…"

"Jaffa!" Sobek called, signalling to them to shoot him.

"Woah, woah, woah, what happened to the Q&A??"

"Then speak slave. Who are you?"

"My name's Vader. Darth Vader. Friends call me Gary." At this remark, Teal'c's trademark eyebrow rose and Sam chuckled quietly to herself.

"Which god do you serve?"

"Oh, we're all kind of…freelance…"

As slight smile appeared on Sobek's face. "You may jest slave, but I'm afraid this situation is a little direr then you seem to understand. I have an ultimatum for you. You may accept me as your one true God, or…" He turned to a door on the other side of the room. It opened and a two of his Jaffa threw a person to the floor. It was a young woman, who had evidently been tortured in length. Her hair colour was barely recognisable under the stain of her blood and she was too weak to even kneel, lying slumped on the floor.

Sobek wandered over to her, while fastening his hand device.

"Good morning, and have we changed our mood today" Sobek asked as he stood over her. Jack saw a twitch of recognition in the woman's back, as she began to straighten it. She then put all of her remaining strength into kneeling up. Her eyes slowly moved up to meet Sobek's. She then surprised Jack by managing to force a slight smile on to her face as she began to speak.

"I'm afraid not, but let's just put this past week down to PMS and call the whole thing off." She then grabbed Sobek's arm containing the hand device and pulled him to the ground. Her hands moved towards his throat, but the Jaffa guards managed to Zat her in time to stop her. They then dragged her unconscious form away and Sobek turned back to SG-1. A scowl on his face, he no longer spoke to them, but indicated to his Jaffa to take them away.

They were thrown into a somewhat primitive cell with no advanced technology in sight. A number of Jaffa were standing watch by the door.

"Not exactly the 5-star comfort we're accustomed to, but it'll do. What's the room service like?" quipped Jack to the Jaffa. When none of them reacted he turned to his team. "So, what are we thinking?"

"I feel it would be a sensible move to escape, O'Neill" commented Teal'c..

"Thanks T, quick thinking. Carter?"

"Well sir, there certainly doesn't seem to be much hindering it other than a couple of Jaffa."

"Does anyone else find this whole thing a bit odd? I mean, where are the copious displays of wealth and technology? In my experience, Goa'ulds don't take the Low-tech approach."

"That is probably due to the fact that Sobek is in hiding," Daniel proposed. "I mean, he must be. As Teal'c said, the System Lords believe him to be dead. In order to stay 'undercover', as it were, he wouldn't be able to obtain any of the necessary materials without arousing suspicion."

"Ok, so hands up who wants out?"

Ten minutes later SG-1 were out of their cell. With newly acquired weapons in hand, they moved covertly through the corridors of Sobek's temple.

"You know, one of these days we should try out that whole Hansel and Gretel thing" Jack said as they tried to find the way out before the rest of the Jaffa were alerted to their escape.

After taking a further wrong turns they found themselves facing another cell similar to the one they had escaped from. However, in this cell sat the young woman that Sobek had brought out to show them.

"We have to help her!" Daniel demanded.

Jack, half resentfully but knowing it was right, moved up to the door and blasted the lock. The woman looked up with a combination of fear and defiance. However, this turned to confusion when he realised who her visitors were.

"If you want out, now's the time," Jack told her. After a moment it registered in her and she began getting up. Carter moved to help her, however once she stood up it became evident that she wouldn't be able to hold her own weight for long. Teal'c then took her in his arms and carried her as they made their way further down the corridors.

Once they were outside it seemed that they would be able to get away without retaliation. _Of course, when does that ever happen_?, Jack thought not a moment before they began to be fired upon. They trudged through the swamp as fast as they could, but unfortunately the Jaffa had the upper hand due to their knowledge of the landscape. The Jaffa began to converge on them from all angles and SG-1 looked almost as though they would have to surrender again when Jack heard a crackle over his radio.

"SG-1 this is Stargate Command. Come in."

"Stargate Command, this is O'Neill. Your timing is as impeccable as ever! Could we get some back-up here?"

"SG-12 is ready and waiting."

"Send 'em through!"

Moments later SG-12 appeared behind the encircling Jaffa. By taking them by surprise it gave SG-1 a chance to break through the Jaffa's line. Sg-12 covered them as they ran to the Stargate, Carter rushing towards the DHD to dial.

They soon arrived back at the SGC. Upon seeing the ailing woman in Teal'c's arms Dr Fraiser was called for. She lay the woman down on a stretcher and started asking her questions. First off the bat was, "Can you tell me your name?"

"Buffy. I'm Buffy," said the woman just before she fell unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Buffy drifted in and out of consciousness, occasionally hearing distant, unfamiliar voices. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying. A number of times she tried to focus in on them, but each time she found herself slipping further and further away. Lying in that infirmary bed she was haunted by memories. Some frightened her, others angered and others still allowed her a moment of contentment. There was one memory in particular that played over and over, as though she were trying to find a way to adjust it. However, no matter how many times it ran through her head, it remained as it were – an unchanging moment, frozen in time.

It came again now, beginning, as it always did, at the crater that was once Sunnydale. But there was no school bus, nor a group of injured teenage girls hovering in the background. There were just two women sitting on the edge of the hole, legs dangling over the side. Their postures gave off the image of being carefree, but if you were to look closely into their eyes you would be able to get an inkling of what they'd really been through.

The one on the left, the redhead, turned to her companion and smiled.

"So how goes the land of the Scots?" she queried.

"Oh, you know, rains a lot, no one speaks American, I've been training an army of superpowered teenage girls. The usual," replied the blonde on the right.

"A little bird told me you're having a tough time of it."

The blonde gave a small laugh, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "This little bird wouldn't, by any chance, be, say, the rare 'one-eyed-watcher-bird', would it?"

"We can't help but be with the caring!" replied the redhead, with a slight note of panic in her voice, not really wanting to have insinuated anybody.

"It's ok Will, I get it. You care. That's nice!"

"So, do you want to talk about it?" enquired the redhead cautiously.

"Not so much. No, I want to talk about…ummm…a château in France. Yes, a château in France where I'm going for a picnic under a tree and then just as I'm about to leave 'Chocolat Johnny Depp' joins me with a bottle of red wine and a book of poetry."

The redhead giggled at this. "But you don't even like poetry!" she retorted.

The blonde joined in with the laughter. "Yeh, but anything that keeps that cute accent going is definitely of the good! …How about you?"

"Ooo, I'm going to have to go with a classic. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, only instead of Gregory Peck, _I'm_ the American reporter who shows the princess the ways of the world…"

"Willow!" cried the blonde, pretending to be shocked by her friend's implication. They both broke into genuine laughter after this. It gradually faded, leaving the two women once again staring out at the empty pit that was once their home.

"A year," said the redhead. "It feels like yesterday."

"I know. Still, so much has happened, has changed."

They sat for another moment in silence. However, as they sat there the blonde began to become aware of a repetitive banging sound. It began as a light tapping, but grew to a thunderous pounding coming from the hellmouth-that-was.

"Please tell me you can't hear that," pleaded the blonde, steadily getting to her feet.

"I'm not so great with the lying," the redhead responded. As she said this, a point in the centre of the crater began to rise. Had it not been for the impending doom it would have been quite fascinating to watch, like the formation of an ant nest in time-lapse. Unfortunately, neither of the women were able to appreciate this phenomena as they were both too busy preparing for whatever might be about to make an appearance…

Buffy woke up with a gasp, the memories of that day too much for her to deal with. She looked around her bed, but it didn't take too her long to realise that she didn't recognise any of her surroundings, save for the other instances when she'd woken up. She lay still for a moment, trying to adjust, and could once again hear those voices that she had almost made out before. She could hear snatches of a woman speaking.

"She healing fa…I don't…not natural……no go'a...symbio…."

None of it made sense to Buffy. She decided to try and sit up, moving her pillows to support her back. Looking around, she found that she was in a somewhat dark room, lit by fluorescent lights. It was reminiscent of a hospital, although the décor on the walls were similar to what would have been found in the Initiative. She looked to her left and found another bed, identical to the one she was on. However, on this one lay a young man. He was looking at her curiously.

"You're awake" he stated.

"That's an A for Observation 101," Buffy said, half groaning as she realised how much her head was aching from the change of position.

The guy smirked and rolled onto his back. "I'm Colonel Dave Dixon".

"Oh, yay, military types. This day just keeps getting better and better…"

"You're awful sarcastic considering, from what I hear, SG-1 just saved you from some snake-head."

"SG what…?" Buffy queried.

Dixon didn't hear her though, as he had just raised his voice, calling out "Doc, we've got a live one in here!"

Moments later, Buffy saw a small, competent looking woman rush into the room. She wore a white lab coat and a stethoscope around her neck, leading Buffy to assume that she was the 'Doc' Dixon had referred to. "She's awake," she heard the woman utter to herself, as she headed directly over to Buffy, giving her a warm smile.

"Hi, I'm Dr Janet Frasier. I've been looking after you. How are you feeling?" she asked, as she began to prod and poke Buffy with her medical equipment.

"Not so good," Buffy responded, moving around a bit so as to avoid Janet's probing. "Where am I?" she asked.

Janet continued her examination, now shining a torch into Buffy's eyes. "You're in a military base on a planet called Earth," she announced.

"Riiight…" Buffy responded mockingly. "Earth. You big on the vague?"

Ignoring her last comment, Janet continued. "You're healing remarkably quickly. Is this natural among your people?" she enquired.

Before Buffy could respond, a middle aged man wandered casually into the infirmary.

"You're awake," he noted, looking over at Buffy.

"That's what they keep telling me…"she muttered under her breath. She was getting tired of all these people crowding her, and was still feeling exhausted. She looked again at the man, realising that he looked familiar.

"Don't I know you?" she asked.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill," he stated officially. "I was one of the ones who helped you get away from the, you know, the big arrogant guy…with the weird voice…and the complex…"his voice began to dwindle as he realised his description was going nowhere. "How ya feeling" he suddenly enquired brightly.

"Oh, you know, just dandy," Buffy replied sarcastically. Her mood, however, was beginning to darken. The memories of the past month were returning to her in montage-like snapshots.

"Could I just be…left…" she stuttered, evidently worn out.

Janet quickly stood up. "Of course. I'll be in and out to check on you," she promptly stated, before turning on her foot and shepherding O'Neill out of the infirmary. Buffy barely noted their exit as she once again found herself recalling the past. Images of tattooed men and excruciating bright lights flooded her consciousness while she shifted herself back into a vertical position.

Once her head was rested on the pillow she found herself entering the same memory as before, and a hundred times before that. The two women were yet again sitting by the crater, legs dangling over the side. The scenario played out as before, as it always did, leading up to that same fateful moment where the hellmouth looked as though it was about to burst. This was the moment that Buffy was struggling to comprehend. It seemed so strange, so unlikely and almost surreal. And yet it happened. It must have. How else would she have suddenly appeared in that forest, surrounded by tattooed men with staffs who seemed to take pleasure in beating her, followed by a month of torture by a man who claimed to be her 'god'? Oh yes, it had definitely happened.

The blonde and the redhead were now standing by the crater. The blonde held weapons in both hands and was entering a fighting stance, while the redhead stood empty handed, her weapon already part of her. Buffy remember what the blonde had been thinking about at that point. Her mind had been recalling the previous discussion about fantasies, Johnny Depp and the like. It had been a game that they had played since high school in order to escape from their everyday life. Just a game. Jokingly, she'd turned to the redhead and said, "I tell you what, I really do wish I was 'anywhere but here'!"

The redhead had turned towards her and their eyes locked. The blonde realised too late the darkness growing in the redhead's eyes, and the demonic façade that was appearing on her face. The blonde had seen that face before. She'd seen it on another of her friends, a vengeance-filled woman who was now dead. Before she could say anything a small, almost Machiavellian smile appeared on the redhead's face.

"Done," the redhead proclaimed and before the blonde could say or do anything, there was a flash of light and the crater was gone, replaced by trees and men with staffs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jack O'Neill sat in the briefing room, apparently captivated by the notes he was taking on Sam Carter's presentation. In truth, if one were to look at these notes, they would find four drawings of planes, a grocery list and three different versions of his signature, among other things. Carter was just finishing up talking about 'potential methods of decreasing the energy output of the SGC's gate' or some such nonsense. Honestly, Jack had stopped listening after the first two words. He figured that it was best to leave the science stuff to the nerds, God love 'em.

As soon as General Hammond had dismissed them, he headed over to Teal'c with apparent urgency.

"Well that was fascinating. Now, more importantly, to the mess?" he inquired. "I hear they've got spaghetti today – your favourite!"

Despite Jack's jibes, Teal'c remained impassive, simply replying, "I do not believe that I ever implied spaghetti was my preferential meal, O'Neill." He then proceeded to turn and follow Jack out of the room.

Unfortunately, as they reached the door exiting the briefing room, General Hammond called Jack back. "I'm afraid your meal will have to wait, Colonel. I've just been informed by Dr. Frasier that the woman you brought in from P3X738 is fit enough to talk with us."

Jack groaned at the thought of a belated lunch, but fell in step beside his CO, stating, "Of course, Sir."

With Daniel meeting them on the way, they arrived in the infirmary to find the woman, Buffy, sitting up in her bed, fiddling with her hair in a hand mirror and talking to Colonel Dixon on the next bed.

"You know, being semiconscious for a few days really leads to a redefinition of the expression 'bed-hair'," she stated to Dixon, only half-jokingly. She then looked up at her visitors and smiled. "Hi," she said welcomingly.

"Er… hi," replied Jack, decidedly perplexed by her cheerful attitude. It was only yesterday that she'd been evidently too traumatised to even stay awake, let alone worry about pleasantries and fashion. "You're looking better," he continued.

"Well, that's a lie," Buffy pouted, once again looking in her mirror, her hand moving back to her hair.

Not knowing quite how to react to this total change in behaviour, Jack turned to Daniel beseechingly. Daniel, always eager to meet someone from a different culture, stepped forward without hesitation.

"I'm Dr Daniel Jackson..."

"Look, I'm fine! I don't need any more doctors. In fact, I don't even need to be here any more. Hospitals give me the heebie jeebies! So just point me in the right direction…"

"I'm not that kind of doctor," Daniel continued. "I'm a doctor of archaeology, anthropology, philo--"

"In essence, he's a very dull man," Jack cut in. Daniel turned around and glared at him, but Jack ignored him, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Umm… ok… so what are you doing here?" Buffy queried.

"Well, we... that is, General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill and I," he said, indicating towards each person he named, "just wanted to ask you a few questions."

Jack noticed that Buffy's mood shifted significantly at this and a tangible resistance seemed to enter her eyes. He realised that the girl from the previous day may not be as far away as he'd thought.

"Look, I'm glad that you guys pulled me out of that hell dimension and all that, but I'm not in the mood to do the military dance."

Ignoring the latter part of her comment, Daniel went on. "I can see how the place we found you would have felt like 'hell', but it is pertinent that you understand it was not hell, nor was your captor 'Sobek' a god."

"Well, derr Einstein! His godliness factor was way below zero! As in getting in to the negatives…or were those invisible numbers? I should have paid more attention back in high school…"

It was evident to Jack that as the girl in front of them rambled on she was completely ignorant to the stir she had just caused. For as soon as the name 'Einstein' exited her lips, the eyes of the three men standing by her bedside widened. Their mouths fell open in astonishment and their minds momentarily went blank.

"What the…"

"Did she just say…"

"Good God!"

After their individual outbursts the girl looked at them, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Look, I know that maths is probably really easy for you brains…"

"Did you just say 'Einstein'?" Daniel interrupted, his eyes pleading for a quick response.

"Um... yeah… you know the one. He had that oversized moustache and was really good with numbers. Irony much!"

"I'm not going to be getting my lunch anytime soon anymore, am I, sir?" Jack muttered, looking at Hammond pitiably.

Ignoring Jack, the General took a step forward. "I'm sorry miss," he began, "but, did you just imply that you come from the planet 'Earth'?"

"Huh?" Buffy looked at them, evidently baffled by the question.

"What we're saying," Daniel broke in, attempting to clarify the General's query, "is that we found you on an alien planet."

"Huh?" she repeated, even more mystified than before.

"As in take me to your leader, beam me up Scotty, snakes in their heads, godforsaken aliens!" Jack burst forth. It was this explanation that seemed to actually get through to the girl. She looked down at her knees as the information sunk in.

"Well actually, that explains a lot."

Of all the possible responses, Jack hadn't been expecting that. Shock, certainly. Tears, possibly. Blasé acceptance, not so much. Yet there she sat, quite content with the thought, not even seeming to be mildly surprised at the prospect of aliens.

"So you're from Earth?" General Hammond asked one more time with a note of dread in his voice. Jack supposed that this was due to the vast amount of paperwork awaiting him if the answer were to be positive.

She looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Born and bred!"

"But, how…?" Daniel stammered.

Buffy turned to him, a slight sadness in her tone. "I can honestly tell you that I don't understand at all how I got there." She then looked down to the floor introspectively. "Not at all" she concluded, more to herself then the others.

Jack, assuming her sudden contemplative mood was due to her experiences on P3X-738, tried to reach out to her in his usual sarcastic manner. "Hey, turn that frown upside down! At least you never have to go near the Sobek guy again."

"Sobek? Meh - that guy was a pushover really. It's that Anubis guy you really want to be watching out for." Buffy said nonchalantly.

"What the…"

"Did she just say…"

"Good God!"

Buffy looked up at them guiltily. "What did I do this time?"

"Anubis is on P3X-738?" Daniel asked imploringly.

"Once more, in English?"

"The planet we found you on. Is Anubis there?"

"Oh that. No, I think he was just visiting; organising some allegiance or other. Dropped by a few times to say hi. I really didn't like that guy."

Even Jack realised how big this revelation could be. At present all the information that they had about Anubis was his name and, no, wait a second, that was about it.

"What information can you give us on Anubis?" quizzed Hammond, his voice almost seeming to break in the anticipation.

"Ummm…he had a cloak thing going on. It was all quite Voldemorty actually."

"You didn't by any chance pick up on his address or social security number or, oh say, a plan to attack Earth in the not too distant future?" asked Jack, joining in on what was turning in to a miniature interrogation.

"Well…"

But before Buffy could get in another word there was a bright flash of light and she had disappeared from the infirmary.

It was at this point that Jack realised not only would he be missing out on lunch, but probably dinner too.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Hey all. Sorry that its taken me ages to update again! Lets just blame uni and be done with it... If it helps, this chapter is the longest so far so that may compensate.  
Enjoy :D

Chapter Four

It was indicative of Buffy's life so far that when she disappeared out of the infirmary it did not overly surprise her. It wasn't that she'd been expecting it, just that when it occurred the only thought that crossed her mind was a simple, 'Hmmm…that's different'.

Buffy had just been about to start discussing Anubis, when she found herself engulfed by an eerie, bright light. It was warm and filled her with a tingling sensation as her limbs became numb. Ever so slowly, another room began to take form around her. It was a darkened room, with large, grey brick walls. Various technologies were scattered throughout it – a number of large television monitors and computer screens bearing assorted images of maps, encyclopaedias and video games. Moving figures also began to take shape. They seemed to be people, although before they completely came into focus Buffy found herself having been hurled onto her back.

"Buffster! Real, live, solid, corporeal, living, Yin to my Yang, Buffster!"

The voice was male and came from directly on top of Buffy, presumably from the figure that had bowled her over.

"Xander?" she asked, slightly surprised. Leaning up she looked at the carpenter-turned-watcher who was now glued with his arms around her. "What the - how did you…can I get up?" she stammered.

Xander quickly moved to oblige his friend, standing up and offering his hand to help her to her feet. Buffy's face was pale and she swayed a little as she stood.

"I'm a little pins-and-needley…" she said, gripping his shoulder for strength.

"It's a side-effect of the transportation spell. You might also experience a slight headache, swollen feet and some nausea," Xander explained as Buffy promptly leant over and illustrated the third of these all over Xander's shoes.

"Sorry!" she said, looking up at him piteously.

Xander simply patted her on the back and continued on with a goofy smile, though it had strained somewhat. "It's good to have you back Buff."

Fifteen minutes later, Buffy found herself in a change of clothes, sitting in the research room of the Scooby's Scottish base. Xander sat on the desk a few seats up from Buffy, with his feet and, for that matter, new shoes, perched on the edge of a chair. They both were full of questions, but neither knew quite where to begin. Eventually, Buffy decided to speak up.

"So, you found me," she stated, imploring an explanation.

"Yes, we found you. Found you we did."

"But why did it take so…not that I'm not grateful because I totally am, but why did it take so, so… long? I mean, it wasn't like I was dead! This time, anyways…" Her voice faded out, reflecting on what the length of time had cost her.

"We looked, Buff. We even brought in some extra-heavy-super-duty Wiccas from the Devon coven, but you were nowhere. And then we started looking through hell dimensions and alternate dimensions, but do you know how many of those there are to go through? It's like trying to find a needle in a land of magnets where we're also a needle and are drawn to the magnets and the magnets are all drawn and repelled to and from each other and everything's the same colour and they all have the same name and where was I going with this?"

"Finding me."

"Oh, right, so then today, by some fluke we happened to check our lowly earth maps again and there you were. In Colorado."

"I was in Colorado?"

"Yeah. What's up with that?"

"Oh, you know me! Just trying to keep things interesting…" Buffy replied sarcastically, not yet ready to start divulging everything that had happened in the last month. "Where's Willow?"

Xander looked taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "Ummm… Willow… well… Willow … errrrr… " he stumbled.

"She's got her vengeance on, doesn't she?"

Xander gave a slight nod. "You heard."

"Oh, I did more then heard. I saw. And felt. And wished. Xander, how could this have happened? What could have made her…? Did we do something? Did I do something? Or maybe it was something we didn't do, or should have done, or could have done differently… Or maybe--" After all that time of not knowing, of half-wishing she knew, the questions she'd rehearsed over and over were spilling out of her like a jumbled-up jigsaw puzzle.

"Or maybe it's just one of those whacky things that always seem to happen to us!" Xander interrupted derisively. He immediately looked guilty upon seeing Buffy's shocked expression. "I'm sorry; it's just been quite stressful around here the past month. With our two big guns playing hide-and-seek we've had it…tough, to say the least. As far as Willow goes, we don't know much. No one's been able to talk to her, or even find her to try and begin to do the talking thing. The only thing we know for sure is that Kennedy…well, Kennedy's dead."

"Oh God, Will!" Buffy instantly muttered under her breath. While Buffy had never really warmed to Kennedy she knew how much the young slayer meant to Willow. "Do you think that could be it? That that's what set her off?"

"I'm sure it played some part, but I doubt it's the only reason. I mean, even when Tara died Willow didn't take the vengeance route. There's got to be more to it," Xander concluded.

The two sat for a moment in silence, contemplating the situation. As Buffy adjusted to the notion of Kennedy's death she recalled the other vital event that occurred the day of the wish-making.

"The Hellmouth," she stated, her eye's widening at the memory. "It was opening! That day…the ground rose and—"

"It's cool Buffy. We sorted it out. You're not the only slayer anymore!" Xander reminded her, a trace of condescension in his voice.

Buffy looked up at her friend, not at all impressed by his patronising tone. After all that she'd been through in the past month – torture, mental anguish and a hard-to-shake feeling of abandonment, she was not in the mood for being talked down to.

"It wasn't a moment ago that you were singing my praises Xander. I was one of your 'big guns' didn't you say? So don't be putting me down. I've proved myself enough times over to deserve that courtesy."

"Look, I'm sorry Buff. It's just – you left. Disappeared without a trace. We've had to cope without you for what seems like forever…"

"Seems like forever! Let me tell you what forever feels like. It's getting woken up everyday by a guy with an overzealous cattle-prodder just to be subjected to torture and humiliation until all you have left to hang on to is the dwindling string that is your pride." Tears began to form in Buffy's eyes as all of the emotions she'd been denying herself for a month hit her at once. "Forever is dying over and over, just to wake up alive again in some stupid coffin every time. No relief for this slayer – oh no, she's not allowed to stay dead. It would be far too easy for her! We've got to make sure her life is as long and painful and confusing and drawn-out as possible…"

She then broke down, weeping harder than she could remember ever doing before. She wasn't sure whether it was the relief of her experience finally being over, or the fact that she knew it never really would be. It would go on and on, with her fighting the good fight without reprieve. It barely registered when Xander began to lightly pat her back.

"I…don't…want…to be…the one…anymore," she forced out between sobs. "I'm just…so…tired!"

"Shhhh…shhhh…" Xander soothed. He now held her seemingly fragile form to his chest, supporting her as she cried. She always seemed so strong; it was easy to forget that she was still a twenty-three year old girl just trying to cope. Even Buffy herself tended to forget this, or at least she suppressed it as best she could.

"You don't have to be 'the one' anymore," Xander continued. "In fact, you're not 'the one'. Now you're just 'one of the ones'. One of a few thousand chosen ones."

Buffy turned her tear-streaked face up towards him, her expression somewhat surprised at his insightfulness.

"You're right! Oh god Xander, you're so right," she murmured. Her tone then turned cynical. "Why didn't I think of that? Or, maybe, why didn't you think of that? I'm one of your 'big guns' and you only have, what, like, a thousand of us now?" She sighed deeply, becoming sincere again. "But you're right."

Taken aback, Xander resorted to quoting his favourite, if somewhat short-lived, TV show. "It's what I do!" he said light-heartedly.

However, Buffy wasn't even really aware that he had spoken. Instead she had stood up, the last of her tears lying forgotten on her cheeks and began pacing the length of the room. The list of possibilities now that she wasn't locked in that godforsaken cell, nor was she the sole hope for humanity, seemed endless and spilt out in a rush of relief, gratitude and just plain hopefulness.

"I could stop, Xander. You know… have a break? I could finish college, travel, sleep in a real bed for the first time in forever. Actually have a life!" she said, her eyes glowing at the prospect.

"And you question our bringing you back," Xander teased lightly, leaning over his knees, his single eye flickering back and forth as her pacing intensified.

"Dawn… I could finally show her everything I wanted to, before Willow pulled this stunt. Just for a little while." She suddenly stopped speaking, her shining eyes fading, her bright smile falling. She had believed for a moment – just one moment – that she could leave this arduous life behind her. However, the memories from the past month were not entirely forgotten. It wasn't the pain and torment. She would find a way to move on from that darkness. Everyone would expect that from her and she would oblige, just as she always did in the end. No, it was something else entirely that had caused her to realise her salvation was not yet at hand.

Even if she could pretend that her life was her own, for the moment, it wasn't. They needed her. Not the Scoobies, but the military. She almost laughed out loud at the irony of that – she was going to leave her friends behind for the military…again… But it couldn't be helped. Not now that she had learnt of the 'would-be-god' Anubis. 'Forgetting' and 'moving on' were off the cards.

"I have to go back," she stated.

"Huh?" Xander seemed to be pulled from his thoughts, looking confused. "What? Why? And again with the 'huh'?"

"I need you to send me back."

"Buffy, we just got you back. How can you think of just leaving us again?"

Buffy almost told him the 'whys' of it, but she stopped herself before she got it out. She realised that Xander couldn't know – none of them could. It wasn't because it was obviously a military secret (she couldn't really give a damn about that), but because he would want to help. He'd want to put the whole Scooby-force behind her, but they were needed elsewhere. There was still evil to fight that was native to this planet.

Buffy smiled at him solemnly, yet firm. "Because a change might just be as good as a holiday?" she suggested lightly.

Authors Note: Please, please, please review! I do love receiving them and they always help to make the story better.

And thanks to my beta, FallenStar2 from


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Once again, I big sorry for how long this took to post! Also, a shout out to my beta - FallenStar2 from . I never knew before this just how bad my grammar could be...

Enjoy :D

Chapter Five

SG-1 sat around a table inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex. It had been four days since the mystery that was 'Buffy' had disappeared right out of their infirmary. Despite having all the resources of the American government at their fingertips, they had nothing to go on other than a first name and hair colour. Not to mention the fact that it was unlikely she was even still on Earth. If they had known for longer that she was from Earth they would have collected more data, but as it was…

Still, they sat around the table with seeming purpose.

Teal'c turned towards Jack. "I would like to propose a suggestion," he supplied with his usual sense of weight.

"Shoot," O'Neill replied, after raising his head from where it had rested on crossed arms on the table.

"Now hold on, Sir," interrupted Carter. "I think we should just wait a minute. I'm not sure that Teal'c even fully understands - -"

"I understand perfectly Major Carter."

"But- -" Carter started again.

"Just let him say it Sam," Daniel joined in. "If it doesn't work out, you can have your say".

"Fine," Sam gave in. Teal'c smiled slightly as he began to reveal his intent.

"I believe that the culprit was Colonel Mustard, in the study, with the rope. Is anyone able to dispute this?"

Jack threw his cards onto the table as a sign of defeat; Sam sighed and leant backwards into her chair while Daniel, on the other hand, looked eager to begin again.

Teal'c revealed the three relevant cards to them. "I am correct," he stated smugly, smiling contentedly.

Jack wasn't sure what to do with himself. Indeed, none of them really were. Their only lead was the Asgard but unfortunately those guys were as easy to get hold of as, well, something that wasn't very easy to get hold of at all. If SG-1 couldn't turn up something within the next day then they were to continue their missions as though nothing had happened. But until then there was nothing they could do other than wait to hear from their little grey friends.

"What time is it?" Jack queried.

Daniel looked exhausted at this. "Five minutes from when you last asked."

"I wish I'd brought my Gameboy."

"You know, you could always use this time to catch up on paperwork," Daniel suggested.

At this, however, Jack looked indignant.

"Look, I'm sorry sir" Sam cut in. "We've tried contacting the Asgard, we've searched through every missing persons, we've checked her DNA…"

"Hey, how'd you get my DNA?" asked a voice from the corner of the room. The members of SG-1 turned towards the sound to find the very person of which they spoke standing there with handfuls of excessive luggage and a quizzical smirk on her lips.

Jack leaned backwards towards Daniel, not taking his eyes off the girl, and whispered "You can see her too, right?"

"Yeh, just a little."

"Good…good…" his voice dwindled as he leant forward again.

There was about ten seconds of shocked silence and staring before Jack hopped off his seat and wandered over to the girl in question.

"I see you're planning on staying longer this time" he said, indicating the bags.

"I like to be prepared," Buffy replied dismissively as she shrugged some of the bags off her shoulders, landing on the floor with a clunk.

The ever-confused Jack turned back towards his equally perplexed team. "Carter, it might be a good idea to get Hammond down here."

Sam shook herself out of her stunned state so as to follow the order. "Yes sir," she responded as she jumped off her seat and headed out of the room.

Fifteen minutes into the interrogation and they now had a name; Buffy Summers. To be more specific it was Buffy _Anne_ Summers. She had once lived in Sunnydale, a town levelled by the earthquake in the summer of '03. As far as Jack was concerned this was all well and good, but he wanted to get on to the big stuff, i.e. how on earth did she get _off_ earth and what was with the disappearing act? Procedure, however, was inflexible.

"So where did you go after Sunnydale?" asked Daniel, who actually looked surprisingly interested in the reply. Jack rolled his eyes at Daniel's enthusiasm – he would never be able to understand the archaeologist's wide-eyed, childlike fascination in everyone and everything.

"How bout we move on now Danny-boy?" Jack interrupted. "So, Miss Summers, you haven't been spending much time on our little planet Earth of late. Care to elaborate on that?"

"Apparently not. That is, apparently not on earth, not apparently not caring to elaborate because I will elaborate in fact I am in the elaborating process, although not so much right now. At the moment I'm in the blabbering process which isn't very elaboratory."

Jack paused in order to let his brain catch up with her speech. "Umm…okay…I think I'm going to take that as a yes. So, how did you end up there?"

Buffy looked a little anxious now, her eyes constantly moving between Jack and Daniel. "Is it enough for me to say that there was a bright flash of light and boom I was there?"

"Actually, that makes perfect sense to us," Daniel informed her. He then turned in his seat towards where Jack was standing behind him. "Although it does raise a whole range of questions about why the Asgard would be transplanting people from Earth onto Goa'uld controlled planets."

"Excuse me? Whose ass are they guarding and then what now?" Buffy cut in, looking completely out of her depth.

"What? No, 'Asgard'. As…gard," Daniel translated slowly. "If what you're saying is correct- -"

"And why wouldn't it be?" interrupted Buffy defensively.

"Right, well it would mean that a race called the Asgard are the ones who are most likely to have been involved in taking you to that planet. We know of no one else who has that kind of beaming technology," he explained. "Tell me, did you see anyone when you were taken?"

"What, you mean aliens? As in naked, grey, big eyes; like in the movies?" she queried.

"Those would be the exact ones," Jack stated, taking this as a confirmation.

Daniel then continued his questioning "And are we right in assuming that they were involved in your disappearance a few days ago?"

"Why not?" Buffy replied. "I mean, yes. Yes, that's what happened. Exactly. Perfect. Abducted by aliens. They took me home and I packed and they brought me back. It was a deal we made. Because I can speak to them. The aliens. Hey actually, why do all the aliens speak English?"

Ignoring this remark, Jack shifted the interrogation into what was for them probably the more vital area.

"Anubis," he began. "So tell us, what's he like?"

"Before we go there, I've got a question for you guys. Just what do you think you are playing at?" Buffy said, turning suddenly serious and accusing; the complete opposite to the ditzy girl they had seen before. In fact, so much so that Jack was beginning to feel that perhaps she had been playing them.

"What do you mean?" asked Daniel defensively.

"I mean just that. What do you think you're playing at getting involved with the likes of Anubis? It would be fine if it were just your lives that you were putting at risk. If that were the case I'd say 'have at it', but it's not. It's the whole planet. Look, I don't know how you have been travelling to alien worlds and I don't know how long you've been doing it, but I've had experiences with your kind before and what I know for a fact is that you military types get involved in things that are way beyond you and everyone ends up suffering the consequences."

"Look, I don't know what experience you've had…" Daniel started.

"No, you don't. You couldn't comprehend it. And don't think I'm going to tell you anything about it, because I won't. But let me ask you this, is it worth it? People will die. Your friends will die. Just so you can be the big heroes and play your little game."

"Hey!" Jack cried out, defending his livelihood. "You don't have any idea why we do what we do!"

Daniel then joined in, "There are hundreds, maybe thousands of civilisations out there that are suffering at the hands of the Goa'uld. We are helping to liberate them."

"And I'm sure you believe that," Buffy said towards Daniel. "But is that the actual reason you do all this?" she asked, now facing Jack. "I'm sure you must have some sort of 'mission statement'. Tell me Colonel Jack O'Neill, what is the reason? I'd put nearly all my money on it having to do with weaponry."

Jack looked at Buffy incredulously. She was like a miniature Daniel, spouting off morals and ethics, but at the same time had an air of experience that he couldn't deny. But still, she was wrong. Well no, okay, so technically she was right. About the weapons anyway. But like Daniel had said, there was so much more to what they do.

He realised that she was still talking. Yes, she was just like Daniel – giving speeches that he couldn't help but zone out of. Regaining his focus, he listened in again.

"How many people have you lost?" she continued. "I mean, you don't know what other people go through to protect this worry little world. God, how many times have you died?"

"What is it now Daniel?" Jack cut in at this remark. "Six, maybe seven times for you?"

Buffy looked surprised at this comment, pausing in her lecture. Jack took the opportunity to take the floor.

"So is that why you're here? To give a sermon on changing out ways? Because if that's all you've got then thanks, but no thanks."

"No, that's not why I'm here. I just need you to understand where I stand. I'm here to help."

"To help? Well, if you've got some info on Anubis that would be sweet, but other than that we don't really want- -"

"Want, probably not. Need, that's for certain," Buffy stated. She then stood up, arms crossed and legs slightly apart. "Look, you've got a big bundle of joy heading your way in the form of a wannabe god. He's got ships, he's got soldiers, but the one thing he's lacking at the moment is weaponry. Or, to be more specific, one particular weapon that he has commissioned from crocodile guy. I don't know too much but it is some sort of bomb capable of destroying a planet. And their first port of call…"

"Oh, don't ruin the surprise!" Jack said sarcastically.

"…Earth." she concluded.

"Why isn't it ever Pluto?"

"It's not actually a planet anymore" offered Daniel.

"What? When did that happen?" Jack looked evidently shocked and disturbed.

"Hello? Earth in peril here!" Buffy reminded them.

"Of course. Here we go again!"

Buffy looked pleasantly surprised by this reaction. In fact, almost comforted. "You know what; I might have had you wrong."

"Awww, shucks," retorted Jack. "This might just be the beginning of a beautiful friendship after all."

Authors Note: Thanks for reading. Please review! Like they say: I review a day helps keep the doctor away, so imagine what 50 a day could do!! And sorry I haven't gotten a chance to reply to last chapter's reviews yet...  
Cheers :D


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Wow :) Look at me - updating quickly! I feel so proud. Altho this speed shall not last I'm afraid :(

Thanks to my beta, FallenStar2. And I hope u enjoy!

Chapter Six

This was not the 'beginning of a beautiful friendship' that Buffy had been promised. Oh no, this was indeed quite different. It was the typical military fiasco that she should have been expecting. She could handle the constant questioning – God knows that spending a year with Andrew had built up her patience. She could handle being away from the demon world, despite her slayer-instincts constantly driving her to patrol. But being confined to the base? Away from shops? After spending a month being tortured on another planet you would think that they would at least cut her that particular piece of slack.

Buffy focused her frustrations into the punching bag that she was using to work out. She wasn't even allowed access to wherever she wanted to go on the base. There was just her room, the mess and the gym. While she knew that if she had any inkling to leave there was no way to stop her short of shooting her, she still wanted to stay on good terms with the SGC. Also, she wasn't ready to open the can of worms that was 'her powers and the supernatural world'. That was whole other conversation for whole other NEVER! Or at least that was the plan. She just needed to convince them to take her off-world with them when they went to visit Sobek; she could then break away, do the dirty work and then return saying she'd been scared and hid. The plan wasn't great for her pride, but at least it allowed her to avoid what would be the inevitable Air Force interest in slayers.

She was going to have a meeting with General Hammond today in which she hoped to convince him to let her go. What the meeting was actually about she wasn't sure – probably more inane questions about Anubis that would garner no new knowledge. She groaned at the thought. On the other hand, at least all of these interrogations had allowed her insight into the workings of the SGC and into some of the people that worked there, in particular Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson.

As she continued training she became aware of someone watching her. Turning around she found Colonel Dave Dixon, her infirmary companion, leaning against the door to the gym.

When he realised that she'd seen him he smiled.

"You don't call, don't write. And there I was thinking we were buddies!" he complained jokingly.

Buffy grinned. Dixon's laid back attitude was relaxing. While this was only the first time she'd seen him since returning the previous day, she knew that he wouldn't pry into the events that had taken place.

"I see you're all up and about now," she commented, indicating the leg that had been keeping him bed bound.

"I know, it's a shame, isn't it?" he said, wandering into the room and planting himself on a bench. "Now the wife's takin' full advantage, gettin' me to take over the chores and the kids. I'm thinking of heading off-world for a rest!"

"It doesn't sound that bad," Buffy disputed. "It sounds nice, normal and—"

"Mundane?" offered Dixon.

"Aren't you just a regular Jimmy-Stewart-every-man!" exclaimed Buffy sarcastically. She went and joined him on the bench, crossing her legs underneath her. "But, you see, I know the truth," she claimed.

"Oh really? And what's that?"

"That I can almost hear the pitter-patter of another pair of tiny feet," she teased.

"God no, three under-fives is plenty!"

"We'll see…" said Buffy feigning knowledge. Another aspect of Dixon that she loved was his family. Not that she'd ever met them; it was just the fact that they were there. Stable. Whenever she met people like that it filled her with a little hope. Too often she felt as though the world was controlled by some outside force bent on tearing apart any happiness that dare show its face.

Buffy looked casually at her watch. "Oh no," she said anxiously, followed by a groan. She turned towards her companion guiltily. "Now you're one of these military guys, right? Tell me - you guys aren't too regimental about appointment keeping are you?"

Suddenly the SGC intercom burst to life: "Buffy Summers to General Hammond in the Briefing Room."

"Nice of you to turn up, Miss Summers," General Hammond stated good-naturedly as Buffy arrived looking fairly harassed. She was still in her training clothes, with her hair falling out of a loose pony tail. Looking around the room she noted that Colonel O'Neill was sitting at the table. There also stood a tall, self-important looking man in a suit and tie, completely juxtaposing Buffy's somewhat more casual attire.

"Sorry! So sorry! I'm not used to the whole 'timing' thing yet. Or the 'schedule' thing. Or the 'remembering it if it isn't written on a post-it note' thing."

Hammond ignored her ramblings, instead turning to the man on his left. "Miss Summers, this is Senator Kinsey. He—"

"As Chairman of the Defence Appropriations Sub-Committee, I have insisted on meeting you in person to verify the reliability of your claims," Kinsey interrupted haughtily, offering her his hand.

Buffy was suddenly aware of a tension in the air. Looking around at the faces of O'Neill and Hammond she realised that they were both somewhat strained. Jack in particular looked as though he was biting back a remark. She could understand why.

"It's always nice to see a healthy level of arrogance!" she retorted brightly, squeezing his hand just a little too hard as they shook. Kinsey looked more than a little stunned.

"Can we keep this girl, sir?" Jack enquired to his CO after letting out a short burst of laughter.

"Right…well…" Kinsey grasped for words. Regaining his composure, he addressed Jack. "You've trained this one well, Colonel."

"Don't blame me; I had nothing to do with it. Must just be your own charming influence…"

"Let's move on," encouraged Hammond. He signalled for Buffy to take a seat at the table. "As the Senator has already said, he is here to verify your account on what you discovered while on P3X-738. This is not, however, an interrogation." Buffy noted that this line was directed slightly more towards Kinsey.

He then whispered a brief warning to Buffy. "It would be wise to play nice," he said, giving her a significant stare. Returning to his previous volume, he invited Kinsey to begin.

"Of course," began Kinsey. "First of all, Miss Summers, it must be said that the word of a twenty-something valley-girl is not one that rates overly high in my books. Just because you have 'been through a lot', as I keep being told, doesn't mean that your account is not filled with ignorance and falsehoods."

Buffy had to admit that this was not the greatest opening in the history of openings. It certainly didn't help her warm to his character. In fact, it made her flex her hand muscles in order to prevent conceding to her more violent tendencies. Yet, she restrained herself. Only just.

He continued in this nature for a little longer, before beginning to flip through some documents laid out in front of him.

"Now it says here in this report, Miss Summers - may I call you Buffy?"

"Miss Summers will be fine," she responded curtly. Kinsey's eyes shifted into a glare, but he took care not to overly react.

"Well then 'Miss Summers', in this report it states that you were abducted by the Asgard and relocated to an alien planet. Do you concur with this previous statement?"

"That's the long and the short of it, yeah."

"Mm-hmm… and you maintain this despite the fact that the Asgard are our closest allies and have strict rules regarding non-interference."

"Maybe one went rogue?" Buffy proposed, the lie falling easily off her tongue. She had felt a little bad lying to the members of SGI or, one, or whatever it was they were called, but had reminded herself that it was for the best. In Kinsey's case, however, she felt no ethical issues whatsoever.

"Also in this report, Miss Summers, it mentions that you overheard Anubis discussing a new weapon with Sobek. Is this correct?"

"Yep."

"And it says that you had been 'zatted' moments before this conversation took place. Is this correct?"

"Why else would I have said it?"

"Well then, Miss Summers, I must admit that I am having trouble correlating these events. In all the reports that I have read coming out of the SGC I have never once heard of someone recovering quite so quickly from being stunned and certainly not being coherent enough to listen to and retain the information you claim to have been privy to. What do you say to that?"

"That you are seriously lacking a social life. It's kinda sad really."

"This is no joking matter, Miss Summers. There shall be serious consequences if you are found to have been lying to the government for your own nefarious purposes." As he said this, Kinsey's voice deepened and he stood, leaning on outstretched arms resting on the table. It was the stereotypical 'power-pose' that Buffy was sure was supposed to intimidate her.

"What nefarious purposes could she possibly have?" Jack demanded, rising to meet Kinsey's stare. Buffy was surprised to see him rushing to her defence like that.

A furtive smirk appeared on Kinsey's face. He sat back down in his chair, leaning back with arms folded. This, more then his previous pose, set off a sense of unease in Buffy. He looked far too relaxed. Far too confident.

"Send him in!" Kinsey called over his shoulder, in the direction of the door. There was a moment of silence, filled with anticipation as everyone waited to see who would appear.

But then Buffy saw him.

Graham Miller.

From the Initiative.

And all her hopes dropped at once.

"There may have been one or two things I forgot to mention…" Buffy hastened to add, her eyes shifting apprehensively between the three men at the table.

Authors Note: Reviews are my muse, (well, that and bad red wine...) so PLEASE! let me know what you think :D Seriously, they really are what inspire me to keep on writing! Btw, is anyone interested in a pairing? I had never gone into this planning one, but the story keeps changing and adapting anyways. If there was an overwhelming response one way or another I may. But there doesn't have to be. Just let me know what the audience wants!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, so it has been over a year since I last updated, but I want to assure you all that I will finish this story! It just might take a while...

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seven

"One or two things?" Jack asked a suddenly anxious Buffy. "Care to expand on what they might be?"

"Not overly, but I guess I'm somewhat lacking in the choice department now…" Buffy replied sarcastically, directing this statement towards the new addition in the room. The man cringed slightly and was evidently trying to avoid eye contact with her.

"General Hammond, Jack, this is Major Graham Miller from military special ops" Kinsey said somewhat smugly. "Major, if you would take a seat..."

Jack noticed that Miller took the seat furthest from Buffy's reach. Buffy seemed to have noticed this too if her next comment was anything to go by.

"Oh I don't think that will help," she muttered under her breath causing Miller to squirm a little in his seat.

They all sat in silence for a moment, waiting for Kinsey to continue. Jack was convinced that Kinsey was just prolonging the moment so he could bask in his own success of shocking Buffy. As allowing this to continue went against Jack's grain, he felt it fell on his shoulder's to interrupt the moment.

"So, surprise witness called, I'm sure we're all very impressed blah, blah, blah could we get on with it please?"

Kinsey stared daggers at Jack, but obliged none-the-less. He picked up two folders off the desk, passing one to Hammond, and tossing the other to Jack. Jack opened it up, barely registering the 'TOP SECRET' sign on the cover.

"Meet Buffy Anne Summers," began Kinsey. "The head of an international vigilante organisation called 'The Watcher's Council'."

As Kinsey started speaking Jack leafed through the folder. There were photos of Buffy laden in medieval weaponry, surrounded by hundreds of teenage-looking girls. There were also aerial images of what looked like some sort of camp or training ground around a castle.

"Founded many hundreds of years ago" continued Kinsey, "The Watcher's Council was a fairly respectable organisation that worked to eliminate certain threats that the government of the time was unable to. As the years have passed they have become a less necessary organisation until the need for their existence became obsolete altogether with the founding of a military group that could combat these threats instead. This group was called 'The Initiative'"

"When Miss Buffy Summers, a member of the Watche-"

"Ex!" exclaimed Buffy. All heads in the room turned towards her. "I was an ex-member at that time…" she explained. "Just clarifying. Continue. I'm enjoying it!"

"Thank you for that assessment Miss Summers," Kinsey replied sarcastically. "As I was saying, when Miss Buffy Summers, an EX-member of the Watcher's Council encountered The Initiative she took it upon herself to take the organisation down, first wooing an integral Agent of the establishment, using him for access and eventually overthrowing the entire complex. Major Miller here can attest to this fact. However after this she was not arrested through what can only be assumed was some form of coercion.

"A few years after this she regained communications with 'The Watcher's Council'. Within a few weeks of this communication, the Council's HQ was 'mysteriously' bombed and nearly all members killed. Miss Summers then took over the establishment. She enlarged it, spreading cells all around the world. Their actions are day by day moving closer towards what can only be described as terrorism. They have no respect for governments, borders or laws and now it seems she has set her sights of the SCG," Kinsey concluded.

There was silence in the room.

Jack was confused, to say the least. His instincts told him to never, ever trust Kinsey, and yet… Yep, he was really confused.

Unexpectedly someone started clapping. It was a slow, congratulatory one man applause, or one-woman, as the case turned out to be when Jack turned his head and saw that the person clapping was Buffy. She had a slight smile on her face and didn't look overly unnerved.

"Bravo," she said. "Bravo indeed. No, I really mean it. That was quite a performance. Although you forgot to mention that I also blew up two schools, killed a Mayor and hold the truth of the Doublemeat Medley."

Kinsey stared at her irately. "It would seem, Miss Summers, that you do not appreciate the gravity of this situation. Back when The Initiative was under investigation I was the lone voice of reason that realised that you were behind everything." He then turned himself towards the room's newest arrival.

"Major Miller, could you please tell us about the running of 'The Initiative' before the arrival of Miss Summers here"

Jack watched Miller closely. Despite his military training to not reveal too much information Miller's eyes were shifting nervously now that the attention was back on him. He was avoiding looking at Buffy at all.

"It ran fairly smoothly sir. Sub-terrestrial threats were successfully captured and contained in our underground facility, reducing the exposure to the local population."

Kinsey smiled haughtily, continuing his questioning. "And then Miss Summers became involved with one of your Agents, who must remain anonymous. How did this change him?"

Miller looked down at the floor as he replied. "He became increasingly anarchic, until finally he mutinied."

"Mutiny." Kinsey repeated for effect. "Mutiny." he said again, hammering it in. "Muti-"

"Yes, it's a lovely word." Jack interrupted. "Three syllables. Both a noun and a verb. We get it."

"I'm not telling you all this for your amusement Jack. Believe it or not I have the best interests of the SGC at heart. You need to understand that this girl is not here by acci…"

Kinsey's words faded off as something caught his eye. Buffy had her hand up like a student in class.

"Do you have something to add Miss Summers?" he asked snidely.

"Ummm…I dunno. My defence, I guess? That's how these things work, right? I mean, I've watched Law and Order…"

"You're not on trial, Miss Summers," General Hammond reminded her.

Jack noticed anger behind Buffy's eyes building like a volcano about to erupt. "You could have fooled me. This…Git here seems to have all the right effective words down: 'vigilante', 'terrorist', 'mutiny'. Boy, he must have rehearsed it. Probably in front of a mirror just to make sure his nose flared at the right moments."

Jack couldn't help but laugh a little at this, although he must admit that Kinsey's words had affected him. He wasn't quite as fond of Buffy as he had been before. If what Kinsey was saying was true, well…that was fairly serious in Jack's books. Possibly the most serious thing these days, actually.

"Do you deny this Miss Summers?" asked Kinsey. "Do you deny that The Initiative's downfall didn't begin until you became involved? Do you deny that the organisation you head up is powerful enough to overthrow governments by force?"

"No, I don't deny either of those. But do you deny that I saved the lives of hundreds of people in The Initiative? Do you deny that my organisation saves people every day by killing hell-born creatures? Demons, Senator Kinsey, do you deny it?"

"You don't fight demons. You consort with them!" yelled Kinsey, standing up from his seat. "Vampires, witches and werewolves, creatures that go against Gods will."

The room fell silent. Jack turned towards Hammond, trying to gauge if he'd just heard what he thought he did.

"I'm sorry everyone," Jack said with a slight nervous laugh. "I've never been great in these meetings. Tend to daydream a little. Could have sworn you just mentioned vampires… But gonna give you the benefit of the doubt."

"You're right," said Buffy. "I mean, aliens, yeah whatever that's one thing right? But vampires? Impossible!"

Kinsey glared at Buffy. "The correct term is 'Sub-terrestrials'. Breeds of creatures with supernatural-like abilities that originate from other, more hellish dimensions. They are plagues upon this earth and must be destroyed."

"And that is what I'm doing! What we're doing! Me and my girls, we are the people who have been chosen to fight them!" stated Buffy.

"Chosen by who exactly?" cried Kinsey. "As far as I'm concerned, you and your 'slayers' and as much a blight to this earth as those monsters you say you destroy!"

Buffy then stood up to match Kinsey. "If you really believe that do you think it's wise to act how you are? I usually don't kill humans. Might make an exception."

"Woah, woah, woah, nice shooting Tex!" exclaimed Jack as he stood up between them. "Now why are we all getting so worked up about some bedtime story you guys obviously seem to have taken way too seriously?"

Jack then watched as Buffy picked up the metal conference table with one hand and hold it above her head.

"Yep, didn't see that coming…" Jack said as he sat back down and Buffy lowered the table.

"Permission to speak?" came the voice of Major Miller. Jack had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Permission granted," said Hammond, who seemed just as shocked as Jack.

"It's true," began Miller, "that after Buffy arrived at The Initiative it all went downhill. But she was not the cause of it, it was just bad timing. Then again, it could also be called the best timing we've ever had because if she hadn't been there it is possible that our problems could have ended in an apocalypse, and I don't exaggerate. Buffy saved us. She has my trust."

Kinsey looked quite shocked at this, which Jack was pleased to see.

"What do you have to say to this, Senator?" asked Hammond, whose face was almost impossible to read.

"Did you not just see that George?" said Kinsey, pointing towards Buffy. "That's just a small part of her grotesque, unnatural abilities. Her and her kind, they go against God!"

"So you're saying," countered Hammond, "that you're problems with this girl actually comes down to simple bigotry?"

Kinsey was lost for words. He stuttered as he tried to come back with something to disprove Hammond's words.

"Senator Kinsey, please leave my base and only return when you can deal with this situation as a reasonable human being, like you pretend to be. Until then, Buffy stays with us. And since your witness, who you have previously vouched for, seems to believe she is of no threat, then we will treat her as such."

Hammond then turned and stormed out of the room. After a moment the still shocked Kinsey stood and walked out dejectedly. The others in the room sat in silence for a moment until Jack turned towards Buffy.

"No but seriously, vampires? What's it a code word for?"

And Jack watched as both Buffy and Miller rolled their eyes and smiled.

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